Beetle VS Halfa
by Weary-Traveler
Summary: The Dietz family moves next door to Sam and there daughter Lydia draws the attention of Danny, will Sam accept Beetlejuice’s help? Eventual DxS.[BEETLEJUICE crossover]
1. Chapter 1

**Beetle V.S. Halfa**

**Synopsis: **BEETLEJUICE Xover The Dietz family moves next door to Sam and there daughter Lydia draws the attention of Danny, will Sam accept Beetlejuice's "help"? Eventual DxS.

**Notes: - **I will be using the movie versions of the Beetlejuice characters, but the B-man may turn out a little less psychotic

I'll try to keep chapters consistent but no guarantees

**DISCLAIMER: insert typical Disclaimer joke here**

**Chapter 1**

_No matter how hard Amity Park tried passing itself off as an average Middle-American town most still know it as a kind of ghost capital USA; the town has after all suffered major ghost attack's, and has been the scene of many ghost sightings._

_ Most of all though, the town is known for the ever present ghost boy; a figure which had evaded the capture of many ghost hunters including the government's guy's in white, and local ghost hunting couple Jack and Maddie Fenton. The town however offers little paranormal attractions aside from a tour offered by a boy named Tucker Foley who takes visitors on a short bicycle ride through known ghost hotspots for 20 dollars._

_In summary the town is best left to those obsessed with the paranormal, and a definite skip-it for my more refined reader._

_Rating (out of five) X - - - - _

_Charles Boseman – Travel critic_

Lydia Dietz skimmed over the article not quite sure what to make of it; a haunted town? Her family had spent the last year in a haunted house, but it had all seemed rather tame after awhile. Her dad tried to get the ghosts involved in his amusement park idea, convinced it was the million dollar plan that would get him back on top in the real-estate business, but it never worked out. Now moving to the most haunted town in the USA, she began to suspect her father's reasons for moving again. As their car passed the Amity Park entrance billboard she wondered if her dad had quite given up on the idea.

-

_**Taking heavier breathes to match the quickening beats of her heart, Sam Manson teased herself into believing what she was experiencing was not the product of her dreams but the final outcome to years of innocent flirtation.**_

_**Her best friend Danny Fenton lay next to her in bed with a look of passionate resolve that seemed to make the endless barriers and conflicts that had always stood between them melt away.**_

**_He leaned in closer till they're faces were inches apart; Sam could feel the warmth on her face from a combination of his breathe and the blood rushing to her head which made her normally milky white cheeks turn a shade of crimson. Her mind seemed to have trouble focusing on the dark and gloomy atmosphere of her room, which had blended together into a dark purple haze that surrounded the two of them._**

"_**Sam?" He said in an almost inaudible whisper.**_

_**She tried to speak but his words seemed to drag slowly through her mind loosing bits of meaning along the way.**_

"_**Sam" He said again, though his face now joined the unfocused images in the background.**_

"Danny…?" She whispered; her mind clearing as his face came back into focus, now with the look of care-free happiness he usually wore.

"Sam!"

"D-Danny!" Sam yelped as reality came crashing down around her.

'_What is he doing here? Oh please tell me he didn't here me whisper his name in my sleep.'_

Danny however seemed totally clueless as ever even though Sam's cheeks now matched her blood red sheets.

"Your finally awake" he said with mock exasperation. "I was about to call Tucker up here to see if he still had an Ember track on his PDA we could play at full blast to get you up". The joke was lost on a very uncomfortable Sam who was still processing her fake fake-out-make-out.

'_Now that's just sad, a new low. It's bad enough I look forward to our fake-out make-outs since that's probably as close as I'll ever get to a real relationship with Danny; now I'm making out with him in my subconscious.'_

For a moment she briefly thought back to his bare chest, the near-kiss, those leering eyes…_Wait a second, leering eyes?…MY NIGHTIE! _Sam pulled her covers up to her neck, covering her skimpy black nightie (strictly a comfort thing). While Danny eyes suddenly became interested in one of her posters on the far side of the room.

"Y-yeah..uh… so I'll see you downstairs when your ready" he said uncomfortably leaving the room. The moment he left Sam buried her head in her pillow.

'_Oh God smother me now!'_

_-_

Danny didn't say a word to Tucker as they waited for Sam, what was he supposed to say!

'_Hey man guess what, I was totally checking out Sam's rack dude'_

It made him uncomfortable just thinking it. He hoped this wouldn't make things awkward between them all day, every time he started thinking of Sam in that way he'd start acting like a total spaz around her; neither Tucker nor Sam ever seemed to notice though.

'_Thank god those two are so clueless,_ _now if I could just get that image OUT OF MY HEAD!'_

Tucker watched his best friend pace back and forth down the entranceway, smiling while he leaned again the wall totally relaxed. He had told Danny to go up alone and wake Sam hoping seeing her lying there in bed might stir something up, but obviously allot more than that happened up there.

'_Probably saw her naked'_ Tucker thought noticing Danny making nervous glances upstairs. He knew the only way these two lovebirds would ever get together was if someone...slowly..carefully...and with the precision of a surgeon…

...Flung the two of them into an outrageous scenario that would make them recognize they're feelings for one another!

'_When my job is done, I am SO going to be best man at there wedding'_

-

Eventually Sam came downstairs in her usual goth attire.

"So sleeping beauty decided to join us, we've already wasted half a Saturday. Was your clock broken or something?" Tuck asked

"Actually for once my parents didn't wake me up with there 'It's a beautiful sunny day out there' routine" Sam said imitating a cheery voice similar to her mothers. "I'm guessing it must be a pretty dark and gloomy day out ther- Ahh!"

Bright sunshine poured in through the front door. Birds chirped happily, and squirrels played together across her lawn like a scene from an old Disney picture; Even the sound of a morning dove could be heard faintly in the distance.

"My god it's worse then EVER!" Sam screamed trying to slam the door, while Tucker and Danny held it open and forced her out.

"C'mon Sam it's not that bad, I think I see some dark and sinister looking stuff over there" Danny said motioning just next-door, where several moving vans were unloading some of most bizarre sculptures he had ever seen. Many of them seemed downright frightening but Danny couldn't help at smile at the look of delight on Sam's face; the different way Sam reacted to these things is what made her so unique compared to the other girls he liked.

"Well, looks like your going to be living right next door to the Adams family Sam- " Tucker paused as one of the movers removed another sculpture, this time of a gruesome severed head with a snake like neck.

"- or maybe the Munsters?" he finished, though Sam only seemed to get more exciting at this prospect.

"Or maybe the coolest family ever!" She cried eagerly.

Sam proceeded next door pulling Tuck and Danny closer to the hideous furniture and sculptures as they dragged there feet. She stared at some of the sculptures then moved towards one of the desks still lying on the lawn; a box of photos had been left open on top, Sam dared herself to peer inside after one of the movers lay a large leather recliner down nearby and didn't seem concerned with what she was doing there.

_'Probably thinks I'm with the family, for once Goth equals Blend in'_

Sam started looking through some of the photos. Most were in black in white or taken at night, all were very artistic; she continued digging deeper despite Tucker and Danny's insistence that they leave.

'_I swear if these guys didn't know me there lives would be a total bore' _she thought to herself, relishing in the fact that (because of Desiree's meddling) she knew it was accurate.

"Alright Sam, you've looked at the photos can we go now, we're being surrounded by stuff that looks like it belongs in the ghost zone." Danny replied glancing nervously around.

"Actually I don't think Skulker's much for post-modern furniture" Tucker said pushing the ON switch for a nearby table lamp and watching as all the knobs on the table it was sitting on light up.

"Weird" Tucker said scratching his head.

"Believe me, my family's seen weirder" a voice said only a few feet away, making all three teens jump a foot in the air in surprise.

The black leather recliner that had been next to them the whole time turned on it's base revealing a teen girl covered from head-to-toe in black, she seemed to blend almost totally in with the chair; Her pale face just barely visible under a dark veil, and her black gloved hands holding a professional photography camera in her lap.

"-And from the things you've been talking about, so have you guys."

…

**A/N: Thoughts, Comments, Criticism? All welcome and in-fact encouraged, Seeing as how if I don't get many reviews I'll take that as a sign I'm not quite up to scratch yet.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**_ **So much for being consistent with the updates :) But after rereading what I've already written I realized how badly it seemed to flow. So I've been revising daily through all the chapters I've written, having to stop for a week after my hand got burned in an industrial glue-press machine (hurt as much as it sounds).**_

**Shiva the Sarcastic – **Thanks man, I was a fan of both the movie and show as a kid. I haven't seen that cartoon since I was about 7 so I can'tcomment on what I'd think of it nowadays :), cartoons have improved a lot since then.

**Psycho King – **I'm using the events of the movie as a template, but I also wanted to mix in a bit of the friendly Beetlejuice, so there could be more interaction rather then just action.

**RngrThorne – **Thanks for pointing that out, that's also the only common mistake I forget to check for in editing.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 2**

"Who are you supposed to be? DR. No?" Tucker said irritated, being first to recover from the shock of Miss appear-out-of-nowhere.

"No!" the girl replied more forcefully then she intended, "I live here so I'd appreciate if you didn't rummage through my things." she said walking up to Sam, taking the handful of photos that were still in her hand and dumping it back into the box; noticing several untouched photos of cheesy floating bed sheets.

'_Seeing as how these people suffer from regular ghost attacks, AND seem to talk about ghosts so casually'_ recalling the conversation she overheard _'I'm sure to them it looks like a bad Halloween costume'_

Sam felt guilty as the other girl closed the box and turned to look at her "Look we're sorry we were looking through your stuf-"

"We?" Tucker butted in, earning a swift punch in the shoulder from Sam and a small smirk from the girl.

"-But I live next door and I couldn't help at be a little curious as to who… you guys were" Sam said smiling awkwardly, still feeling embarrassed for snooping around.

The other girl relaxed her glare, _'she seems sincere, and it's hard enough making friends hoping from town-to-town all the time. Maybe fates cutting me a break this time, even her friends seem okay I guess' _she thought uncertainly,her eyes passed over Tucker and focused on Danny for the first time. His blue eyes darted away from hers and he rubbed the back of his neck grinning sheepishly.

She smiled to herself,_ '-I could live here'_

-

Danny walked next to Sam while the three of them followed the girl up to her house. After they introduced themselves, she told them her name was Lydia and her family had moved here after staying at there last house for less then a year. She seemed reluctant to talk about the reasons behind it but none of them pushed the subject. Danny just enjoyed listening to everything she said, he started wondering why he felt so interested in this girl he met only a few minutes ago.

'_I never thought I'd fall for a girl this quickly'_ He thought, wondered if these feelings were romantic or maybe he only found her interesting in a friendly sort-of way. _'It's weird, she's shaping up to be the second most unique girl I know after Sam but she seems so… normal' _He paused for a moment laughing at a story Lydia told them that happened at the all girls school she went to where she used to live.

'_For once I'm getting to know a girl who isn't into a ghost, Hunting ghosts, or involved in anything paranormal'_

Lydia stopped to show Sam a wiry sculpture that bobbed uneasily on its base, while the wiry tendrils that stuck out of it swayed menacingly pointing out in all directions like jagged fingers.

Danny smiled, _'well…even abnormal is better then paranormal'_

-

As they approached the front door Sam couldn't believe the cheery mood she was in, it had been ages since she was able to connect this well with another girl. There were other girls she hung out with at school, but Casper high was a breeding ground for Prep's, Geeks, Jocks, airheads, and not much else. This left her and Danny in a kind of a miscellaneous loser's category, while Tucker was considered a geek; not that she cared of course.

'_I'm betting Lydia going to find it hard to fit in at Casper; I mean I've been friends with Tucker and Danny for ages, so as long as we had each other none of us needed to try and fit in.' _The Goth mused while Lydia and the three of them walked through the front door, passing several burly movers on there way out. She noticed Lydia casually side-stepping the movers while hardly paying any attention to the work being done on the house, Lydia seemed to be able to guess what Sam was thinking.

"My step-mom's obsessed with interior design; she can never leave things the way they are, even after she's already changed them once before. It's stopped me from getting attached to anything outside my room." Sam noticed a slight sadness in her voice. She realized just how similar the two of them had it, thinking of her own dark sanctuary amidst the splendor of her parents' mansion.

'_That settles it. I think it's about time are trio became a foursome. Man, I can't wait to see the look on my mom's face when she seems me hanging out with another Goth on a daily basis' _Sam thought trying to suppress a smile.

'Samantha? What are you doing here?" Sam's eyes went wide at the sight of both her parents standing in the Dietz's living room with whom she assumed to be Lydia's father and stepmother. _'Well that was sooner then expected'._

"What are YOU guys doing here?" Sam asked, noticing Lydia looked more then a little surprised at the news that the two brightly dressed nuclear family throwbacks were her parents.

"Welcoming a new family to Amity Park and to the neighborhood" Her father said cheerfully to Lydia's stepmother, who seemed more then a little uncomfortable around the Manson's.

"Sammykins, who's that with you?" Sam's mother asked with more than a little uneasiness in her voice.

"That's our daughter Lydia" Mrs. Deitz replied.

"Um… Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Manson…" Lydia replied.

Sam's parents narrowed there eyes, glancing at one another with looks of disapproval. Much in the same way they continually reacted to Danny.

-

After Sam's parents left –reluctantly without there daughter– the three friends decided to spend the rest of there Sunday giving Lydia a grand tour of Amity Park. Sadly it wasn't that different from there usual Sunday routine: Going to Nasty burger, loitering at the mall, hanging out at the park, going to nasty burger again (at Tuckers insistence). When the sun started setting Sam dragged them to **Skulk and Lurk books**, where she and Lydia seemed to feel right at home while Danny and Tucker made many glances at there watches.

As the two girls looked through one of the book displays, Sam noticed Lydia looking over her shoulder seemingly happy that the boys weren't around. Sam became worried that maybe Lydia didn't like her best-friends.

'_I know they're kind of weird, but I'm surprised she'd act like that after how nice they've been to her' _Sam thought.

She was caught off guard when she looked next to her again and saw Lydia standing very close looking apprehensive. While continuing to make glances over her shoulder, the girl leaned in close to Sam.

"I've been wanting to ask you this all day, but those two really cling to you most of the time" she said gesturing to Danny and Tucker, who were too busy laughing at _spell casting for dummies_ to notice them.

"But… well, Danny… does he have a girlfriend…?" She asked, smiling shyly.

Sam froze.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

A/N:Always planned for Lydia to make a 'James Bond villain' style entrance, LOL. Thought about Tucker saying Dr. Evil instead of Dr. No, But I prefer the classics.

Next chapter: The gang goes back to school Monday with Lydia as the new student. Beetlejuice makes his appearance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Celestial Maiden Sukira:** Wouldn't it be the most evil thing if I wrote the whole story and he never showed up:)

**GaurdianAmy: **hhhmmm… I get the gist what you're saying, Sam and Beetlejuice huh? I like it. I LIKE IT A LOT (Evil Laugh)

**Jiece18: **I actually took out allot of the bonding scenes since it was starting to feel like a Lydia x Sam story.

**SkeksisGirl:** Actually I think someone is :)

**Psycho King:** LOL, The romantic conflict was one of the earliest aspects of the story I came up with to add depth. Originally it was going to be a one-shot action in the vein of the classic Superman vs. Batman type stories.

**Shiva the Sarcastic: **Is it bad that I've finished all my college English classes and had to look up the word "prose"? LOL, Thanx

**A/N:** Lydia may come off as a little disturbed, but I'll keep it realistic and not overly dramatic; I just didn't want her to be too cartoony. Also I thought it was about time to address the Ghost Zone-Neither World dilemma:

**Neither World **Place you go on your way to the afterlife. From what they said in the movie you got to spend quite allot of time hanging around as a ghost before you can move on.

**Ghost Zone** Spirits here stay behind due to obsession or unfinished business.

-----

Chapter 3

Sam hated Sunday evenings.

Although they still took place during the weekend; you had to go to bed earlier for school and the moment you fell asleep, 8 hours would go by while your body lay paralyzed and unconscious. In the morning you'd find yourself facing a Monday feeling as though the two days had somehow blurred together. The whole experience didn't seem right to her.

She enjoyed sleeping as much as anyone else, but being a creature of the night she wanted to make the most of her time when the sun went down. That's why, (whenever they could) Tucker, Danny, and herself, would go online every evening and stay up as long as they could chatting; trying to make the most of what was left of the day.

Danny was always the first to logoff.

"YAAAWWWNNN…. Sorry guys, I think I'm going to have to call it quits now." The web cam feed of Danny looked sleepily at the other two.

"Awww… come on man, it's not like you had to fight any ghosts today" Tucker replied.

_**BING!**_

He received a private message from Sam:

**Let him go, we have to talk. **

'_This can't be good.' _Tucker thought to himself noticing the worried look on the Goths face.

–

After Danny logged off, Sam filled Tucker in on what had happened at the bookstore.

"She asked if he had a girlfriend?"Tucker asked shocked.

'_Is there an echo in here?' _Sam though impatiently.

"Yes! She asked if he had a girlfriend!" she yelled into the tiny microphone on her laptop, before realizing her parents were asleep in the room next to hers.

"Well? What did you say?" He asked.

"I said I didn't know" she said tentatively.

"You didn't know? Sam we spent the whole day showing this girl how close we were. Telling her that we've known each other for years, and you tell her you didn't know whether your best friend was dating anyone. Don't you think that might sound strange to her?" Tucker said.

"Maybe… a little, I don't know!" Sam said uncertainly.

Tucker saw her look down as panic and worry showed clearly on her face. This was a side of Sam few saw, even Danny. Hormones and puppy love didn't fit in well with the indifference and rejection of popular culture that Sam used to define herself.

"She didn't look like she didn't believe me" Sam said tentatively.

Tucker looked at Sam seriously before letting out a sigh of exasperation.

"Sam I warned you something like this was bound to happen. Danny may not be captain of the football team, but a lot of girls think he's cute. I've had girls pull me aside and ask if I thought he'd be interested in them; theirs only so many times I can say he's not interested in a relationship before they start thinking he's gay." Tucker said sincerely.

This only seemed to put Sam in more of a panic, she never really considered all the other girls at Casper High. Keeping Danny away from Paulina and Valerie was hard enough but if she started keeping every girl away… Danny would get more then a little suspicious.

"Tucker! This is High School! Most relationships never make it past a month or two. If Danny and I were ever to break up, it could ruin the friendship!" she cried.

Sam felt helpless; there was nothing she could do that wouldn't leave her at the risk of loosing Danny. If they got together, there was the chance they'd split up and things would never be the same. If he dated someone else, there was the chance it could become serious. Sam always expected they could get together when they were more mature, but she had already almost lost him to Valerie.

Sam knew the real reason she'd never asked him out, deep down… she wasn't sure he'd feel the same way.

"I...I gotta, log off now. See you tomorrow Tuck" **_Click!_**

–

_Hi Pumpkin_

_You mother and I already ate but we left you some leftovers in the fridge. I had_

_to run out for a meeting with the director of Axion Labs, they've offered to_

_support my amusement park idea by providing the latest in ghost containment_

_technology! I may be home late so make sure you've got everything ready for_

_school tomorrow_

_Hope you had a good time with your new friends,_

_Dad._

_P.S. your mother is not to be disturbed tonight._

'_Not to be disturbed? Now there's a light way of saying strung-out on Valium'_ Lydia thought to herself, crumpling the note she'd found on the counter and throwing it into the trash. Opening the fridge, she saw the leftovers her father was referring too; but after noticing the telltale signs of her mothers cooking, decided to have an apple instead.

She took a box of her things the movers left on the floor and made her way upstairs. Giving her mothers room only a passing glance in the hallway she went into her own room, pleased to notice the rest of her things were already there.

'_Doesn't matter that she's sleeping with Prince Valium tonight, just means I can have some peace and quite to think.'_ She thought confidently. Much to her embarrassment however, Danny was the first thing she thought of.

In every city her family had moved to, she'd find herself in the bottom rung of the local schools social ladder, where Goths and geeks became her close friends. Not that she had any problem with that, she'd decided at a young age to be true to herself and not become a superficial automaton desperately trying to make herself worth the attention of those who called themselves her friends; but she couldn't understand what someone like Danny was doing hanging around with a goth and a techno-geek.

'_All he's missing is a bit of muscle and a sports jacket and I'd have pegged him as a jock.'_ Lydia mused, _'I guess he cares more about his friend's then social status.' _

Could that be why she liked him? Because he was so different then the good-looking guys she usually met? That's when Lydia stopped herself, remembering the only other guy she'd liked that fit into that mold.

"Beetlej-" she almost said his name before clapping her hand across her mouth in panic. 'No, not anymore' she thought calming down. After she left him behind at there last house she resolved to never call him again.

Lydia remembered how she'd gotten so used to saying it over the last year, all the fun she'd had with him in the Neither-World and around town. It had been the best few months of her life, but as they grew closer she realized that she was placing all her affection in a ghost. A ghost she could never be in public with, go to a restaurant with, and marriage and kids was out of the question. When her father said they were moving to a much larger town, she knew it was an opportunity to meet guys she could have a real relationship with.

The move also provided her with a flimsy excuse to break off her friendship with Beetlejuice. He had been summoned by two ghosts in her house to get rid of her family, after he was sent back her family got along with the two ghosts; up until the bureaucrats in the Neither-world decided it would be better if the couple moved on early to avoid forming a close relationship with the living. Turns out, Beetlejuice's name was next in line for a new house to haunt (she suspected his involvement in the decision). This however left him bound to the house for god knows how long, unable to leave.

As she stared up at the ceiling, she felt her eyelids getting heavy. The long car ride was tiring but she'd never expected to spend the day getting a tour of the town. Tomorrow was her first day of school; she figured it'd be best to get some sleep.

Already too tired to get ready for bed she just let herself drift off slowly, thinking of what tomorrow would bring. She was already half-asleep when she started thinking about her conversation with Sam earlier.

"I wonder (yawn)… I wonder why she wouldn't know (yawn)… know if he was dating anyone……."

She dozed-off on that point.

–

**HONK!...**

…

…

**HOOOOONNNKK!**

Jazz held her hand on the horn several seconds longer, hoping Tucker would get the message and start walking to the car a little faster.

"Everyday it's the same thing!" Jazz angled her rear view mirror to focus on a tired and unkempt Danny in the back seat, "Why can't you and your friends ever be ready when it's time to go?" She waited till Tucker slammed the door shut before refocusing her angry glare on the road and gunning it to Sam's house. Danny and Tucker woke up quickly, bracing themselves as the car swerved in and out of traffic.

"Maybe it's because we don't all have **_Fenton'spresso_** machines in our rooms!" Danny cried out. He and Tucker looked fearfully out the side windows at the passing cars until they were nearly jolted out of they're seats when Jazz hit the breaks in front of the Manson house, the two of them taking the time to tighten there seat belts.

"I sure hope you inherit your driving skills from your mom" Tucker whispered to Danny.

They didn't have to wait long for Sam. _'Whose butler prepares everything for her in the morning'_ Danny thought grudgingly. He knew it wasn't fair to think that way about Sam, since she always tried getting her parents to stop pampering her, but it was still hard to ignore.

He saw Lydia leave her house and run, catching up to Sam who was just getting in the car. They had told her yesterday she could go to school with them in the morning. Jazz was holding her foot impatiently over the gas pedal as Sam got in; Danny realized he'd never gotten around to telling his sister that Lydia was going with them.

"Jazz wait! Lydia's coming t-"

"LYDIA! WHERE!" Jazz screamed. She flew out of the car brandishing a **_Fenton Ecto-Bazooka_**, firing enormous beams of ecto-energy wildly around her before turning face-to-face with Lydia, standing wide-eyed in shock.

"Oh! Uuhhh... heh…Lydia, right! A perfectly normal girl named Lydia…I ummm…Thought you were… uh… someone else?"

Jazz replied unconvincingly.

She tried tossing the 4 ½ foot long ecto-bazooka into the car discreetly, only to hear it go off inside blowing a hole through the roof. Danny, Tucker, and Sam, slapped there hands on their faces in embarrassment. Jazz smiled and motioned towards the car.

"Um…All aboard"

–

By the time they got to school, Danny managed to convince Lydia that Jazz was insane and had started telling her all about how to handle the teachers on her schedule.

"Hey, you have Lancer for 3rd period History. Sweet, Sam and Tucker are only with me for his English classes."

Lydia smiled shyly at the amount of attention Danny had been giving her since they arrived at Casper; he'd occasionally ramble on and stumble over his words like a spaz, as well as take any opportunity to tell her something interesting about the school. From what she could tell he didn't have a girlfriend, but she still couldn't be sure without more information. Just looking around her she could see dozens of attractive girls roaming the hallways, the sight of each one made her feel more self-conscience about her appearance. Turning back to Danny she found him with a longing look in his eyes.

"Uh…Danny? You okay?" Lydia followed his gaze to the lockers against the opposite wall, where a gorgeous Latina seemed to stand out even amongst all the other attractive girls; she was chatting with another girl and two Jocks.

Sam (who had been staying a fair distance behind her and Danny) walked in front of him, obstructing his view of the hot teen. "Earth to Danny, homeroom in five minutes!"

"Huh…What? Oh yeah! Right… class" he said, blushing as his eyes darted between Sam and Lydia.

Sam raised an eyebrow. _'I'm the one who's always on his case about Paulina, why would he be embarrassed that Lydia knows he likes her-'_. The color drained from Sam's face, panic and anxiety overwhelming her. _'h-he..He…likes her!'_

"Did I say five minutes? I meant one! You can't afford another detention Danny!" She said hurriedly; grabbing Danny's arm painfully she pulled him along with her as she ran down the hallway.

"Ouch! Sam what are you- hey wait, stop… SORRY LYDIA! SEE YOU IN THIRD PERIOD!" Danny yelled behind him as he disappeared around the corner. Lydia went back to her locker weirded-out for the second time that day.

"There's something going on here that I'm just not getting"

--

Not having Sam, Tucker, or Danny made finding her English class much harder. She'd already walked into three other classes that were in progress, running faster each time not wanting to show up late.

The hallways were now empty of students; everyone was in class except her. Desperate for directions to class she noticed an unkempt janitor walking down the hallway just ahead.

"Excuse me! Sir!" She called, rushing to catch up to him. The man stopped and slowly turned towards her.

"Thank god I found someone, it's my first day and I can't find my cla- " Lydia mind shut down in shock as the janitors pale white skin and crooked yellow teeth came into view; tufts of frayed blonde hair stuck out from underneath his cap which was pulled down over much of his face.

"BEETLEJUICE!" She screamed in both surprise and anger. He showed little reaction to her attitude.

"Well hey there Lydia" He replied rather coldly "when were you planning on tell'in me bout your little boy-toy back there."

--

A/N: I never realized how hard it'd be to write this guys dialogue!

Please READ & REVIEW! All you got to do is push a button… then about 50 buttons after that :)


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Sorry for the slow updates and shorter chapters, school works been taking up a lot of my time. I've also felt less inspired the last few weeks, I'm sure it'll help when the new episodes start :)

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**Kara Crane**

**Shiva the Sarcastic**

**Lt. Commander Richie**

**Sweeteen19**

**Celestial Maiden Sukira**

**Artemis's Arrow**

Thanks for the reviews, glad you like it so far.

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**CHAPTER 4**

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Lydia's voice was caught somewhere between surprise and anger; Beetlejuice seemed taken aback but quickly composed himself and leaned against the nearby lockers, letting a sly grin slowly appear on his face.

"What's the matter Lydia, don't like it when I show up without you callin' me?" He said snidely.

"Nooooo…, I don't like it when someone I said goodbye to for the rest of my life shows up a week later stalking me at school." Lydia said, trying to keep herself from yelling, since classes were now in session.

"Stalking you? You make me sound like some dirty weirdo with nothing better to d-". Lydia glared at him.

"…Okay, so maybe I was following you" Beetlejuice said dismissively.

"How? I thought you had to haunt my old house"

"I would, if it was still there. The cops figured rats chewing the cables had something to do with the fire." Beetlejuice contorted his face till they resembled a rats, and made a chewing motion with his extended front teeth.

"You burned down my house!" Lydia yelled, approaching Beetlejuice menacingly.

Before Lydia could figure out the best way to murder someone who was already dead, a nearby classroom door swung open revealing a surly looking old man carrying a large tome-like book; behind him she could see a class in attendance, all had copies of **_The Merchant of Venice_** in there hands.

"Shouldn't you be in class miss?" The teacher asked sternly.

Lydia didn't have to check behind her to know Beetlejuice had disappeared the moment the door opened. Although she was glad to see him leave, she realized it now looked as though she'd been yelling to herself in the empty hallway.

"Umm… yeah, sorry. I was looking for Mr. Ferguson's English cla-"

"**I **am mister Ferguson, and **you** are 20 minutes late." He said narrowing his eyes on Lydia who produced an audible _Gulp._ "Since I assume you are the new student I was expecting today, I will not give a detention, but I expect you to arrive on time from now on; is that understood."

"Uh… Yes Sir" she walked passed him uncomfortably.

The classroom dissolved into a flurry of whispers; Lydia couldn't make out what most of them were saying, and she honestly didn't care what a bunch of people she didn't know thought of her. But one voice stood out so loudly she couldn't help but feel the person didn't care if she could hear what was being said.

"That crazy schizo girl had better not sit near me; I already have to work next to that Goth girl in biology, I don't want to be surrounded by losers all the time""

Lydia recognized the girl as the sexy Latina Danny had been staring at when they'd arrived at school. The girl was sitting with the same people Lydia had seen her talking to earlier; two football jocks, and a slim blonde.

'I have the feeling I'm going to hate that girl, reminds me way to much of Claire'. Lydia thought, remembering the spoiled princess she'd thankfully left behind at her last school.

There was a dark-skinned brunette sitting close to the blonde, but the girl didn't seem interested in what her friends were saying; in fact, she was the only person in class who hadn't so much as glanced in her direction. There was an empty desk right next to her.

"Hi, is it alright if I sit here?" Lydia asked

When the girl turned to face Lydia, she noticed for the first time just how worn-out she looked. There were dark circles under her eyes, along with various cuts and bruises on her exposed skin.

"I guess so… But if you're crazy, now would be the time to tell me" The girls eyes narrowed.

"I'm not crazy. That whole thing outside was… well, do you believe in ghosts?"

At the mention of the word 'ghost' the pencil in the girls hand snapped and Lydia noticed the girl's left eye twitch several times. 'Maybe this spot wasn't such a good idea'.

"Ghosts… ghosts ruined my **life!**" the girl said venomously, her eyes went wide and refocused on Lydia. "Are you telling me there was a ghost right outside this classroom?"

"Yeah, he kinda followed me here from my old town; my family just moved here. Names Lydia"

"Valerie" the girl said with a smile.

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English class with Valerie turned out to be very informative; they talked through the whole class. Lydia told Valerie about her family and where they moved from, Lydia didn't elaborate too much on the ghostly details but she could see they interested Valerie the most; when Valerie started talking she found out why. At the start of the school year Valerie had lost her friends, home, money, and possessions, all because of a ghost called…

"**Danny Phantom!**" Valerie practically spat the name out.

"I've never heard of a ghost going so far to ruin someone's life" Lydia said. She was shocked by what Valerie had told her; Beetlejuice pestered her but all you had to do was say his name three times to get rid of him.

"Well now you've heard. The ghosts in this town are all like that; we've been invaded, had our bodies taken over, our homes destroyed, you name it! But the thing I can't stand is that almost everyone in town idolizes Danny Phantom, just because he fights his own kind back to where they came from doesn't make him a hero- "

"Miss Grey, let's try to keep the chatter to a minimum" the Teacher said eyeing the two of them. As soon as he turned around Valerie leaned in closer.

"…It means he wants this world for **himself**, and I don't plan on letting him make this world his!" she said whispering sharply.

"But what can you do? How can you fight a ghost?"

At this point Valerie's mouth opened then snapped shut, as if she was going to say something incriminating but caught herself right before she said it. Lydia then noticed she seemed to be debating something in her head, leading to an awkward standstill in the conversation. Thankfully, the bell rang and Lydia didn't have to come up with something to fill the silence.

"Uh… sooo, see you around Val" Lydia said getting up.

"Huh? Oh yeah! See'ya!" She snapped out of her reverie; staying behind after Lydia left, slowly putting her books away. Her mind sank deep into thought once more.

'**I just met her, there's no way I can trust her yet**.'

'She's got a ghost following her around, trying to ruin her life! It's almost like what happened to me!'

'**It's not a good enough reason to tell her you hunt ghosts.'**

'But I can't do this on my own anymore. It's been nearly a year and I haven't been able to take down the ghost-boy. I could ask Danny to be my sidekick, but he knows too many people. Last thing I need is for Sam or Shudders Tucker to know.' Val grabbed the rest of her books and headed to her next class.

'This girls only been here a day; if I can get her on my side now and show her the ropes, I'll have enough help to clear all the ghosts out of Amity Park.'

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The rest of the day was a lot less interesting for Lydia. After English she had gym; which quickly became her least favorite subject thanks in no small part to the teacher's determination to "Put some meat on her."

"…But- **Pant** I'm- **Pant** a vegetarian!" Lydia cried attempting her 10th chin-up.

"So's Miss Manson and I whipped her into shape" The hefty teacher pulled out a large submarine sandwich, taking a bite after every exercise she ordered Lydia to do.

"Now onto the track field." She yelled to the class, after Lydia fell to the floor exhausted.

History with Danny, Sam, and Tucker wasn't what she expected. The only desk left was on the opposite side of the class from where they were sitting; she also had to face another old, out-of-shape teacher with an obsessive passion for what he taught.

While Mr. Lancer droned on, she watched Danny, Tuck, and Sam talking and goofing off. Danny would occasionally glance in her direction and wordlessly joke about how far she was from them, Lydia's stifled laughter caused students sitting next to her to scoot there desks further away.

'Guess people already know me as crazy girl' she looked back over at Danny and saw that Sam was having trouble getting his attention. Danny and Lydia just starred at one another for several seconds, before he started to blush and turn back around to a disgruntled Sam. 'At least someone doesn't care'.

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**A/N: **I feel this chapter went waaayyy to slow; I think I take way to much time describing things. What do you think? Next chapter will be action packed, I promise. No more fluff :)

Read & Review!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**Wow, a little over a year since the last update. Thank you to all those who talked me into continuing; I've been busy with work and school and I thought no one really cared whether this old thing was continued. There'll probably be one or two more chapters at the most before I wrap this up.

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**CHAPTER 5**

_ Don't say it…_

_ Don't say it…_

"BEWARE!"

Danny gritted his teeth in annoyance as the Box Ghost dodged his ecto-blasts, flying in-between the park trees while sending another volley of boxes hurdling towards him.

"You know that catchphrase is getting reallllly annoying and I- " **Slam! **A picnic basket hit him square in the face sending him careening through a crowd of roller bladders before finally landing in a pile of thorny bushes.

'I can't believe I'm getting my butt handed to me by the box ghost' Danny thought to himself as he emerged from the bushes.

"Gee mister, you're not very good at this" A voice said.

Danny turned and saw what could only be the ugliest kid he'd ever seen. He was pale with yellow teeth, wiry blonde hair, and pale skin, he couldn't have been more then 8 years old but looked… odd for his age.

"Uh, I'd like to see you do better" Danny said angrily before quickly shielding himself from an oncoming mail-box. He hated being mean to kids, but sometimes they should learn when to keep their little traps shu-

"HEY UGLY!!" Danny heard the hideous child next to him scream. The Box Ghost turned his attention to the kid.

"You mind not touching my package!" The kid made a rude gesture with his crotch before pointing at the package the Box Ghost had been preparing to throw at Danny.

The box exploded in his arms and dozens of bats flew out, swarming around the Box Ghost who gave a girlish scream of terror before flying into the vary thorn-bush Danny had just gotten out of. The bats continued circling the bush; upon closer inspection Danny could see their heads were identical to the ugly kids. Acting on the opportunity Danny pulled out his thermos and sucked both the bats and the Box Ghost into it.

"Why did the bats get sucked up too? Unless they were..." Danny turned back around to the kid.

Standing in the kids place was a bizarre man wearing a striped suit, his face similar to both the kids and the bats; his body gave off the trademark glow of a ghost, something Danny had failed to notice earlier.

"You're not a kid! You're a ghost!" Danny yelled, glaring at the man who seemed unperturbed by Danny's stare.

"And that's not a thermos, but you don't see me gettin' all pissy about it!"

Danny gritted his teeth and turned to fire the thermos at him, only to find it gone. The man flew up towards Danny and held it in front of his face, pulling it away every time he went for it.

"Hey give that back!" The moment Danny yelled, the man just smiled and crushed it to pieces in his hand. This caused all the spectral energy to be released, including – much to Danny's dismay – the Box Ghost who flew-off quickly into the night. "You're playing with one of the big boys' kid; if you wanna "help" the living I ain't got any problems with that, but stay away from Lydia."

"Lydia? What do you want with her?!" He felt both added anger and confusion at the mention of her name.

"Oh what, you want to keep ALL the great lady's to yourself. I've already seen you getting cozy with that other chick, Lydia's mine! We've got history!"

Before Danny even had the chance to charge an ecto-blast, the man disappeared in a sudden bang.

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Sam's battle wasn't going any better. It didn't involve ghosts; instead it was a battle between whether to finally tell Danny she liked him, or keep her feelings to herself till the right time came. After spending an entire day keeping Danny away from yet another potential crush, she realized it was time to make up her mind once and for all. She paced back in forth for some time weighing her options before she suddenly felt her body stop and go rigid.

"I'll tell him." She said abruptly. She traced her lips with her fingers, in shock that the words had come out of her mouth before a clapping sound broke the silence of her room. Spinning around she saw the ghostly figure of a man standing in the corner, his hands slapping together one last time before he began approaching her.

"Don't think I could'a said it better myself" He blew his nose into a hanky that appeared out of thin air.

"Who are you?!" She would have preferred to say something a little more threatening, but without any Fenton weapons nearby it was best to just keep him talking.

"There's no way I'm telling you my name" the ghost said matter-of-factly. "If I tell you, you'll tell your friends and next thing you know I gotta make appearances at every wannabe-Wiccan girl's slumber party" His tone suddenly changed. "There's only one girl for the B-man, Lydia."

"Lydia?" Sam was genuinely perplexed, _what does Lydia have to do with this guy?_

"Lydia and I go way back" He recalled dreamily. "After I got back on her good side for terrorizing her family she and I became close friends, and not long after that we became even closer." His look changed to one of frustration. "...and then her parents dragged her out to this dump where Mister I'm-half-ghost starts putting the moves on her from day one!"

"Danny! You're talking about Danny!" Before the ghost could reply, Sam recalled how she'd suddenly stated she'd tell Danny her feelings for him; realization dawned on her. "You want me to tell Danny how I'd feel because you love Lydia"

"Ka-Ching! We have an accomplice!"

"Hey! I didn't say I was going to go along with it!" She yelled.

"Why not?" The ghost whined.

"You're a ghost, you're Evil!"

"Hey, Come on! Do I look evil?" He moved closer to Sam and smiled innocently, baring his yellowish teeth. Sam grimaced upon getting a closer look at the ghosts face. "Evil's...not exactly the word I would use."

Beetlejuice glared at Sam, "Look, if you don't tell him I'll tell the world who he is."

Sam looked unimpressed, "Almost all the ghost's in the Ghost Zone know Danny's real identity; but they know if they made it public the ghost zone would be under threat from ghost hunters."

Beetlejuice sneered "The Ghost Zone is for the crazies; I'm from the Neitherworld, that's where normal people go when they die but can't cross over yet."

Sam was beginning to feel out of her league; this ghost not only acted different, but seemed to know allot more than she or the Fenton's knew about the afterlife. The more she thought about his offer the more it seemed reasonable. But Sam wasn't a total angst ridden goth girl and wasn't about to take the easy way out. She knew there was another way.

She looked at the ghost with her strongest attempt at sincerity, "I guess it's the only way. I get Danny and you get the girl of your dreams, sounds fair."

"Yeesss! And they say kids these days are completely stupid, you're alright in my book. Now go tell that superhero crush of yours to give up on the new creepy girl and settle on the old creepy you."

Sam's eye twitched at the remark slightly but she kept on with the performance, "Alright; I'll let him know, you make your move on Lydia just after." The ghost nodded in acknowledgement before disappearing in a flash.

Sam sighed, _now to get Danny and Tucker_

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Short chapter, I know. I've finally got an ending in mind though and I'm working on finishing the rest in a chapter or two.

**Please Read & Review**


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